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Sunday, 26 April 2015

182) Commemorating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru: (14.11.1889 – 27.05.1964) with the issue of Commemorative Coins by the Government of India/Reserve Bank of India:

182)
Commemorating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru:
(14.11.1889 – 27.05.1964) with the issue of Commemorative Coins by the Government
of India/Reserve Bank of India:

About
Jawaharlal Nehru:

Jawaharlal Nehru was born on
14.11.1889 at Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India and was the son of Motilal Nehru a
well-known political leader during the British Raj.

He was an Indian Nationalist
who became the first Prime Minister of Independent India in August 1947. He
became a prominent Indian National Congress (INC) as a protégé of Mahatma
Gandhi.

His
Education:

When young, he was home
educated through English governesses and tutors.

Later, he was educated in
England at Harrow School and later at Trinity College, Cambridge where he
received an honours degree in Natural Science. Thereafter, he studied Law at
the Inns of Court School of Law (Inner Temple) in London where he trained to
become a barrister.

In 1912, he
returned to India, enrolled himself at the Allahabad high Court and practiced
Law for several years but had little interest in his Law practice as he was
drawn more towards Indian Nationalist politics.

In 1913, he collected
funds for the Indian Civil Rights Campaigners/Movement led by Mahatma Gandhi in
South Africa.

He also, began to
participate in campaigns against indentured labour and other such
discriminations faced by Indians in British Colonies.

In 1919, he joined
the Indian National Congress (INC) and sided with the Nationalists who were
fighting for greater autonomy from the British. Mahatma Gandhi’s ideas had a
great impact on him.

During the 1920s,
he became a prominent leader of the left-wing faction of the INC which laid the
ground for his assuming leadership of the INC later on.

In 1922, when his father Motilal Nehru formed the
Swaraj Party along with C R Das, following a strategy to gain membership of the
British sponsored councils for the purpose of obtaining full Dominion status
for India,
in opposition to Gandhi, Jawaharlal remained steadfastly loyal to Mahatma
Gandhi and did not join the Swaraj Party.

During
1920s and 1930s, he was imprisoned
onnine occasions by the British
Raj Authorities for participating in Civil Disobedience Movements and defying
bans on agitations being spearheaded by the leaders of the INC. He spent a
total of nine years as prison-time on various occasions between 1921 and
1945.

In 1928, he was
elected the President of the Indian National Congress. He was the “blue-eyed
boy” of Mahatma Gandhi who engineered Jawaharlal’s rise in the INC hierarchy.
Gandhi believed that Nehru would be instrumental in attracting Indian youth
towards furthering his cause of civil disobedience movement through “Satyagrah”.

In 1929, Nehru led
the historic INC session at Lahore that proclaimed complete Independence as
India’s political goal. He served as the President of the Indian National
Congress twice during the Independence struggle – once during the Lahore
session on 29.12.1929 and the second time during 1936-37.

At
midnight on New Year ’s Eve, Nehru hoisted the tricolour flag of India upon the
banks of the river Ravi in Lahore. A pledge of Independence was read out which
included a readiness to withhold taxes. 172 Indian members of Central and
Provincial legislatures resigned their positions in support of the Resolution
and in accordance with public sentiment. The INC asked the citizens of India to
observe 26th January as Independence Day. The Indian Flag was
hoisted publicly across India by INC volunteers, Natiolists and the citizens of
India.

After
the Lahore session, Nehru gradually emerged as an important leader of the
Indian Independence movement, and Mahatma Gandhi gradually took on a role of a
guiding light in spearheading the Quit india Movements.

In 1930, a Series
of Round Table Conferences were convened at London where road-maps were
discussed towards more participation of Indians in the government leading
eventually to India’s Independence in 1947.

In 1931, Nehru
attended the signing of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact between Mahatma Gandhi and
the British Viceroy Lord Irwin. The British authorities agreed to free all
political prisoners and Gandhi agreed to end the Civil Disobedience Movement
which he was co-ordinating for several years.

In 1932, both Nehru
and Gandhi were jailed on charges of attempting to start another Civil
Disobedience Movement.

The Second Round Table
Conference was attended by Gandhi, but, did not result in much break-through.

The Third & Final Round
Table Conference however led to the enactment of the Government of India
Act of 1935 which gave the Indian provinces a system of autonomous
government in which elections would be held to elect Provincial leaders.

In 1936-37, during
Nehru’s second term as President of the INC, he proposed certain resolutions
concerning the foreign policy of the future Indian Nation. He began developing
good relations with governments all over the world and worked to set in place a
democratic set-up in the country after India gained Independence. He also
worked towards planning the economy of future India. Most of his efforts were
put paid to when the country underwent a bloody partition in 1947.

Nehru’s concept of a
secular India was somewhat validated when the INC under his leadership swept
the 1937 Provincial Elections and formed the government in several
Provinces.

By
this time, Gandhi was positioning Nehru to become more visible as an important
Indian leader and he was being seen as the natural heir to Gandhi, and in January
1941, Gandhi went on to announce Jawaharlal as his political successor.

In 1942,
during World War II when Japanese troops reached India’s borders, the British
again sought to enlist Gandhi’s help, but Gandhi who was spearheading another
Civil Disobedience Movement called on the British to “Quit India” and raised
the tempo of his movement.

Both Gandhi and Nehru (who reluctantly agreed to Gandhi’s hard-line stance for immediate
Independence for India, for Nehru wanted to support the Allied war effort
during the Second World War) were again imprisoned by the British India
authorities, this time for about three years.

By the end of World War
II, Nehru was positioned as the first Prime Minister of India, with the active
support of Mahatma Gandhi, although the majority of the States overwhelmingly
supported Vallabhbhai Patel’s candidature as the Prime Minister.

The British India administration was
considerably weakened by managing several fronts – fighting the Axis armies on
several theatres during World War II, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National
Army (INA) which was inspiring the imagination of the youth of India, Gandhi’s
Civil Disobedience Movement in India etc. Nehru,
like most Indian Nationalists of that time, abandoned fashionable British
clothes and foreign possessions.

The Quit India Movement
of 1942, saw a desperate British India Government effectively take steps to
crush the INC as a political organisation by jailing its leaders.

By 1947, upon
realising that India’s Freedom from British Rule was just a few years away both
the Indian National Congress led by Gandhi and the Muslim League led by
Mohammad Ali Jinnah wanted to increase their influence in Independent India.

The British Viceroy, Lord
Mountbatten was charged with formulating a withdrawal plan for the British
after handing over reins of the government to Indians.

It is often open to
conjecture and a matter of debate, whether India’s “destiny” would have charted
a different course, had Patel or an educated liberal like Maulana Abul Kalam
Azad been appointed Prime Minister in his place.

He initially opposed the
Muslim league’s insistence on the division of India on the basis of religion and
negotiated with Mohammad Ali Jinnah for power sharing, however when these
discussions failed, Nehru succumbed to
Lord Mountbatten’s machinations, who advocated a policy of partition of India
along religious lines and acquiesced to his and the Muslim League’s plans to
divide India. This lead to the bloody
Partition of India and Pakistan in 1947.

When Sumita and I visited
Simla in Himachal Pradesh, India, with our friends Dennis & Maggie in mid-2012,
we visited the Vice-regal Lodge which is presently the Indian Institute of
Advanced Studies where furniture, locks, curtains etc. from the British Raj
times was shown to us on the guided tour of the museum portion of the Institute.
The tour guide spoke with feigned
amusement when he came across a round table which had two round halves placed
together to form the round table, with a clearly visible dividing line. “This
straight line down the middle on this round table symbolises the Radcliffe Line
on which Jinnah & Nehru sat for discussions on the future face of India,
after gaining Independence from the British. Do you know that both Mohammad Ali
Jinnah and Jawaharlal Nehru harboured ambitions to become the Prime Minister of
India and both for their personal interests were not willing to yield an inch.
Then Lord Mountbatten mentioned to both of them that he would “lock” both of
them in the room containing the round discussion table and would only “release
them” when they would come to some kind of an agreement. Finally, they agreed
to partition India on religious lines carving out the State of Pakistan, so
that both would be benefit from the arrangement and become Prime Ministers of
their partitioned countries”. My note: The Radcliffe Line was published on 17 August 1947 as a boundary
demarcation line between India and Pakistan upon the Partition of India.

Photos taken by Sumita of the Vice-regal Lodge in Simla, where the discussions on the future face of India took place leading to the Partition of India.

(We are searching in Sumita's photo collection of the photo of the round table on which the discussions between Jinnah & Nehru took place & will place the image here, ASAP)

Found it!! this is the Round Table (with the "Radcliffe Line" down the centre) on which the Partition of India was finalised by Jinnah & Nehru.

In
hindsight, it was only Maulana Abul Kalam Azad who saw through the attendant
dangers of partitioning India. While every other member of the Indian National
Congress fell in line with Nehru’s decision, Azad steadfastly maintained that
partitioning of India would lead to a continuing bitterness and conflict
between the two partitioned nations. Ultimately, Nehru & Jinnah were both
proved wrong and Azad was proved right as considerable resources of both India
and Pakistan are engaged/spent on an on-going basis on the defence of their
territorial borders.

The British withdrew from
India and both Jinnah and Nehru achieved their ambitions – Jinnah became Prime
Minister of Pakistan and Nehru, that of Independent India.

A
brief about the “Seva Dal” (meaning “The
Group which Serves”):

The Seva Dal is the grassroots organisation of the Indian National
Congress which has its branches in all the States of India. It was formerly
called the Hindustani Seva Mandal.

Its formation was
necessitated, when several freedom fighters who were taking up the cause of
India’s freedom through peaceful means – following Gandhiji’s “Satyagrah” (insistence of a right
through peaceful means) were thrown in prisons and suffered untold hardships. It
was felt by the Congress party leaders that the volunteers participating in
peaceful demonstrations should be trained to fight back and defend themselves
from physical injury caused through police brutality.

As a result, in 1923,
the Hindustani Seva Mandal was mooted
at the Kakinada session of the Congress for combating the British Raj and
commenced its activities from 01.01.1924.

Jawaharlal
Nehru became its first President, despite opposition from several Congressmen
who opposed the idea of creating a militia-like organisation within the Indian
National Congress, because this militated against the concept of Gandhiji’s
philosophy of non-violence.

The Hindustani Seva Dal also created a women’s wing.

Later, in 1931, the
Congress Working Committee renamed the Hindustani
Seva Dal as the Congress Seva Dal
which became the central volunteer organisation of the Congress.

The Organisation had as
its members children, adolescents and adults. All Seva Dal members were required to take an oath which enjoined upon
them to stay aloof from political activity in the Congress.

Several training camps
were established across India. During the Civil Disobedience Movement, the Seva Dal played an active role and
organised picketing activities and in placing at the disposal of the INC an
organised militia. Its activities became
so prominent that a ban was placed by the British Raj on the Organisation’s
activities. The members of the Seva
Dal wear the Gandhian Cap and Khaki shorts and white shirts, much like the
Bhartiya Janata Party’s Nationalist Wing the “Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh” (RSS).

Nehru
as the First Prime Minister of India:

Jawaharlal Nehru became
the First Prime Minister of Independent India from 15.08.1947 to 27.05.1964.

On 15.08.1947, he took
office as the Prime Minister of India on 15th August 1947 and
delivered his famous inaugural address titled “Tryst with Destiny”:

“Long years ago we made a
tryst with destiny, and now the time comes when we shall redeem our pledge, not
wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the
midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A
moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the old
to the new, when an age ends and when the soul of a nation, long suppressed,
finds utterance. It is fitting that at this solemn moment we take the pledge of
dedication to the service of India and her people and to the still larger cause
of humanity”.

In October 1947,
during his tenure as Prime Minister, India faced a conflict with Pakistan over
the State of Kashmir, the status of which was disputed by both countries and
has led to armed conflicts as well as on-going terrorism within Indian Territory
by Kashmiri sympathisers with leanings towards Pakistan. This dispute is as
much alive today, as it was during Nehru’s time.

In 1949, Nehru
signed the First Constitution of Independent India, drafted painstakingly by
Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar which was enacted on 26.01.1950.

Thereafter, Jawaharlal set
out to realise his vision of India by embarking on an ambitious programme of
economic, social and political reforms by implementing moderate socialist
economic policies at a time when India required a speedy and long term policy
of industrialisation.

Under his leadership, the
INC dominated National and State-level politics and won elections in 1951,
1957 and 1962.

A
brief on some of his policies:

Nehru oversaw India’s
transformation from a Monarchy to a
Republic, while nurturing a plural
multi-party democracy.

Nehru had leftist leanings
politically and studied Marxism while undergoing imprisonment. He found himself
interested in the philosophy and adapted Marxism as he thought fit for Indian
conditions.

He imparted modern values
and thought, stressed upon secularism, and pursued policies which he thought
would take India into an age of scientific development and innovation as well
as technological progress. During his tenure, there was concern for the
marginalised and poor.

Nehru implemented Economic policies based on
import substitution industrialisation and advocated a mixed economy where the
Government controlled public sector co-existed with the private sector.

India embarked on agrarian
reform and rapid industrialisation. His Agricultural
reformsfocussed upon successful land reforms which included abolishing
of large land-holdings, but efforts to redistribute land by placing ceilings on
land holding as well as efforts to introduce large-scale cooperative farming
faced obstacles by the landowning rural elite who formed the core of the
powerful right-wing of the Congress and built up considerable political support
in opposing Nehru’s efforts.

On the Domestic front, between 1947
and 1950, Sardar Patel engineered the integration of several Princely States
into the Indian Union. A new Constitution of India was adopted on 26.01.1950
which declared India as a Sovereign Democratic Republic.

In 1953, a States
reorganisation Commission was set up to create states on linguistic lines and
the Report submitted in 1955, was partially accepted. Nehru stressed
commonality among Indians and promoted Pan- Indianism. He refused to reorganise
states on either religious or ethnic lines.

He reformed the antiquated Hindu Civil Code
through which Hindu widows could enjoy equality with men in matters of
inheritance and property. Hindu Law was changed to criminalise caste
discrimination.

In 1961, Nehru
authorised the Indian Army to invade Portuguese
controlled Goa which was annexed into the Indian Federation.

Nehru’s Education policy laid stress on
the education of children which was essential for India’s future progress.
Maulana Abul Kalam Azad as India’s first Education Minister set up several
institutions of learning including the All india Institute of medical sciences,
the Indian Institutes of Technology, Institutes of Management, National
Institutes of Technology. Free and compulsory primary education for all
children was guaranteed under the
Five-Year plans. Azad oversaw the creation of mass village enrolment programmes
and the construction of thousands of schools, Adult Education Centres,
vocational and technical schools especially in the rural areas.

Nehru promoted Hindi as the lingua-franca of the Indian nation.
After a long & acrimonius debate with non-Hindi speakers Hindi was adopted
as the official language of india in 1950 with English continuing as the
associate/subsidiary Official language for a period of fifteen years, after
which Hindi would become the sole official language. To allay the stiff
opposition faced by Nehru, the Official Languages Act 1963 was later amended to
ensure that English would continue as the Subsidiary Official Language even
after 1965.

In 1948, he
established the Atomic Energy
Commission of India and laid the foundation stone of the National Defence Academy in 1949.
India’s nuclear policy was set with Dr. Homi J. Bhabha spearheading India’s
Nuclear Capabilities Programme to establish India’s Regional superiority.

Foreign
Policies:

During the Cold War, Nehru
preferred to stay non-aligned
and followed a policy of “neutrality”. His policy led him to “align” with
non-aligned countries of both Africa and Asia.

He was a pacifist and
pioneered the policy of non-alignment and co-founded the Non-Aligned Movement of Nations, professing neutrality
between the rival blocs of Nations dominated by the USA and USSR.

His policy of
non-alignment during the Cold War meant that India received financial and
technical support from both power blocs in building India’s industrial base.

In 1948, he agreed tohold a plebiscite in Kashmir under
the supervision of the UNO, but as Pakistan failed to pull back troops in
accordance with the UN Resolution from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir, he declined
to hold the plebiscite in 1953.

Chinese
Policy & the Chinese Aggression of 1962:

He recognised the People’s Republic of China soon after its
creation and lobbied for its inclusion in the United Nations, while refusing to
brand China as the aggressors in their conflict with Korea. He sought to
establish friendly relations with China in 1950 and hoped to act as an
intermediary to bridge the divide between the Communist states and the western
bloc.

In 1954, Nehru
concluded the Five Principles of
Peaceful Coexistence known as the “Panchsheel” (meaning the
“Five Virtues” in Sanskrit), which particularly focussed on the disputed territories
of Aksai Chin and south Tibet.

From 1959 onwards,
Nehru adopted the “Forward policy”
of setting up military outposts in disputed areas of the Sino-Indian border.

Despite Nehru’s efforts to
have friendly relations with China with the infamous slogan “Hindi-Chini
Bhai Bhai” (meaning “Indians and Chinese bond together as brothers”),
China went to war with India over Indo-Chinese border disputes, in which the
Indian Army had to make strategic withdrawals, leading to loss of territory
giving China a moral advantage, thanks to inept political decisions and several
blunders being committed by Nehru to counter the Chinese aggression.

The 1962 Chinese Aggression, led to considerable Indian losses
due to the smaller and ill-equipped number of Indian troops as compared to the
numerically superior Chinese troops and some poor forward planning and tactical
blunders by Nehru as Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Armed Forces. It is said that Nehru’s greatest blunder
during the War was not to use the Indian Air Force to beat back the Chinese
advance. Clearly, had this option been exercised by Nehru China had neither
fuel nor runways long enough for using their Air Force effectively in Tibet.

The losses in the War led
to Nehru becoming thoroughly unpopular in India and rang the death knell to his policy of forming a strong Asian Axis to
counteract the influence of the Cold War Bloc superpowers.

Later, China withdrew to
the pre-war lines in the Eastern sector at Tawang, but retained Aksai Chin
which was within British India and came under Indian control after India gained
Independence.

After
the war, sweeping changes were brought about for strengthening the war
preparedness of the Indian Armed Forces to defend its borders.

My
impressions of the Chinese Aggression:

I remember that in 1962 I
was all of four years old and my uncle who had just graduated from the Indian
Military Academy was deployed to a forward sector during the Chinese Aggression
as a Lieutenant. I remember the following incident which he narrated which left an indelible impression on me:

He mentioned that there
was a huge Chinese presence very near to the Indian troops and he was leading
an Indian scouting patrol to assess the Chinese strength. As he climbed up a
snow-covered hillock, suddenly, at the same time there emerged on the other
side a young Chinese officer, who too perhaps was on his first scouting
mission. Both of them came atop the hillock and froze, having not expected to
see an enemy soldier almost within hand-shaking distance. Then, having been
trained in the best traditions of warfare, my uncle reacted first and fired his
firearm just before the Chinese soldier did. My uncle’s shots hit his opponent,
while the Chinese Officer’s shots went wild. My Uncle, an avid “shikari” in his own right, had never
taken a “pot-shot” at a human being before. Almost as quickly as he had shot
the Chinese Officer, he was by his side trying to find out if he could provide
him some medical help. After all, the Chinese officer too was a young man, and
was simply trying to do his job. One of the men in the patrol pulled my uncle
back from atop the hillock shouting a warning “Sir, there seems to be a huge
Chinese presence on the other side of this hill and they are advancing upon us.
You can do nothing about him. He’s dead already. It was either him or you. Let us
get back fast to our lines from here otherwise they will kill us all or take us
prisoner”.

Suddenly there was a
volley of gunfire in the direction of the Indian patrol from below the hillock
on the Chinese side and shouting of urgent orders in Chinese as the enemy was
running uphill towards the patrol. Sensing imminent danger, the Indian patrol
moved back stealthily & safely to the Indian lines, without any casualty or
firing a single shot in the direction of the enemy so as not to give away their
position.

I
have recounted this story in my mind several times over as I grew up and
reflected that experiences/incidents like these bring out the horrors of actual
warfare, from the confines of political gamesmanship/War-Room manoeuvres and
leave an indelible mark on a Soldier’s psyche, particularly those who are highly
sensitive human beings like my uncle was.

The territorial disputes
still plague both Nations, with China laying its claims to its territories under
Indian control, which had been captured by the British Indian Authorities
during territorial wars with Burma.

Nehru’s
Death and Legacy:

After the Chinese
aggression in 1962, Nehru never recovered from the Chinese debacle,
which constantly gnawed at him as a betrayal of trust by the Chinese and his
health declined significantly thereafter.

He passed away on 26.05.1964.

As India’s first Prime
Minister & External Affairs Minister, he played a major role in shaping
modern India’s government and political culture and foreign policy.

He created a system for
providing universal primary education and set up world-class educational
institutions. He established Programmes like the National Book Trust and the
National Literacy Academy which promoted the translation of regional literature
in other Indian languages and organised the transfer of materials between
various regions in pursuit of a single unified India.

He stressed commonality
among Indians while keeping in mind regional diversities.

A style of jacket which he
wore became immensely popular world-wide and is called the “Nehru Jacket”. (I
have come across this term several times while working on American Cross-word
puzzles).

His Birthday on 14th
November is celebrated as “Bal Divas” (Children’s Day) in recognition of his
work for the welfare, education and development of children and the youth of
India.

Numerous public
institutions and memorials across India are dedicated to his memory. The Nehru
family homes at Anand Bhavan and Swaraj Bhavan are preserved to commemorate his
and his family’s legacy.

He was awarded the Bharat
Ratna in 1955, which is India’s highest civilian honour.

Of late, there has been
some criticism on the basis of leaked classified files that Nehru spied on the
kin of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, fuelling speculation that he feared that if
Netaji returned or his kin got information on Netaji’s actual fate, he/they could
pose a serious threat to Nehru’s political aspirations. Also, there is
speculation that Nehru knew that Netaji did not die in an air-crash but met his
end at the hands of the Russians, a fate which Nehru knew about.
Declassification of relevant files is not being done by the Government of India,
including the present one, on grounds that the information contained in those files
is very sensitive and could strain the relations with some friendly countries.
As such, the issue remains as it is and Nehru’s image has been sullied somewhat
in the absence of relevant information being declassified.

His
writings:

He wrote prolifically.
Some of his popular books are, “The Discovery of India”, “Glimpses of World
History” and his autobiography “Toward Freedom” and “Letters from a Father to
his Daughter”.

Commemorative Coin:

The Reserve Bank of India on behalf of the Government
of India has issued a five rupee coin in March 2015 to commemorate the occasion
of 125th Birth Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru for general
circulation. The specifications of the coin are:

Reverse of the Five Rupee coin issued on the occasion.The coin shows a
portrait of Jawaharlal Nehru facing front, in the centre. Along the periphery
of this face of the coin is the inscription “Jawaharlal Nehru ki 125vi Jayanti”
(in Hindi/ Devnagri) on the upper periphery and “125th Birth
Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru” (in English) on the lower periphery. At the bottom,
below his portrait are mentioned the years under commemoration “1889-2014”.
2014 is also the 50th year of Nehru’s passing away in 1964.

Notice that on the reverse of this coin the
“Diamond” mint mark of the Mumbai Mint has been engraved on the bottom
periphery.

Obverse of the Five
Rupee coin. This face shows the Lion Capital in the centre
with the legend “Satyameva Jayate” (Truth will Prevail/triumph). On the left
periphery/flank is the word “Bharat”, in Hindi/Devnagri script and on the right
hand periphery/flank is mentioned “India”, in English. On the bottom half of
the coin is mentioned the denominational value of the coin with the numeral
“5”, preceded by the rupee symbol.

Interesting Numismatic details on Jawaharlal Nehru:

He is the only Indian personality on whom coins
have been issued with his profile facing both left and right. With the latest
coin showing him as facing front, this is an unmatched honour bestowed upon him
by the Government of India/India Government Mints.

I have the following coins issued on him in my collection:

Coins issued shortly after he passed away in 1964:

Reverse of a One Rupee coin showing his portrait facing left with the peripheral inscription "JAWAHARLAL NEHRU" on top and his life years "1889 - 1964" on the lower periphery.

Obverse of the above One Rupee Coin showing the Lion Capitol (the emblem of India) on the centre top below which is the senomination of the coin, the numeral "1". Further below is the Diamond Mint mark of the Bombay mint (present day Mumbai mint). Also inscribed on the coin is the name of the country "Bharat" & "India" on the upper portion and the currency "Rupiya' and "Rupee" on the lower portion. Another version of this coin was also issued with the inscriptions in Hindi/Devnagri. (Another version of this coin was also
issued with the inscriptions in Hindi/Devnagri).

Reverse of a Fifty Paise coin
showing his portrait facing left with the peripheral inscription
"JAWAHARLAL NEHRU" (in Hindi/Devnagri) on top and his life years "1889 - 1964" on the lower
periphery.

Obverse of the above Fifty Paise Coin showing the Lion Capitol (the emblem of India) on the centre top below which is the senomination of the coin, the numeral "1". Further below is the Diamond Mint mark of the
Bombay mint (present day Mumbai mint). Also inscribed on the coin is the
name of the country "Bharat" & "India" on the upper portion and the
currency "Rupiya' and "Rupee" on the lower portion. (Another version of this coin was also
issued with the inscriptions in English).Rahul Kumar has an interesting titbit to add :"The coins released in 1964 showed the legend only in English.
This anomaly caused a furore "forcing" the mints to release versions
with the Hindi legend".

A First Day Cover issued posthumously by the Indian Posts & Telegraphs commemorating "Bal Din" (Children's Day) on Jawaharlal Nehru's birthday on 14.11.1964. The cancellation stamp on the 0.15 paise stamp mentions "Children's Day 14.11.1964 and New Delhi". there is also a rose on the cancellation stamp, a symbol associated with Nehru . Nehru is shown showering his blessings on a little girl. The stamp itself shows Nehru facing left & is a replica of the coins issued on him in that year.

Reverse of a Five Rupee coin
showing his portrait facing right. Nehru is shown wearing the Gandhian cap and his iconic Nehru jacket, with the peripheral inscription
"Jawaharlal Nehru Janamshati" (in Hindi/Devnagri) on the left and the centenary year "1989" on the lower bottom . Below the year, is the Diamond Mint mark of the
Bombay mint (present day Mumbai mint).

Obverse of the above Five Rupee Coin
showing the Lion Capitol (the emblem of India) on the centre top below
which is the senomination of the coin, the numeral "5". Also inscribed on the coin is the
name of the country "Bharat" & "India" on the upper portion and the
currency "Rupiya' and "Rupee" on the lower portion.

Posted
on 20.07.2016:

I have yesterday received
a Commemorative Uncirculated Rs.5/- Coin from the Hyderabad Mint on the “125th
Birth Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru”:

“Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
was the first Prime Minister of Independent India was also the architect of
modern India. He was born great and also achieved greatness by his vision, hard
labour, sincerity, honesty, patriotism and great intellectual powers. He was
born on 14th November 1889, in Allahabad. His father was Motilal
Nehru, who was a prominent lawyer. He took his earlier study at home and went
to England for higher study. Later he returned to India and became a lawyer. He
joined the freedom movement of India with Mahatma Gandhi and his hard works
made him able to be the first Indian Prime Minister after the Independence of
India for an uninterrupted period of over 17 years. He set up the National Planning
Commission with himself as its first Chairman. He was a great writer. “The
Discovery of India” and “Glimpses of World History” are his famous books”.
Nehru, the beloved leader of millions of his countrymen passed away on 27th
May 1964. Nehru loved children a great deal. His birthday is celebrated as
“Children’s Day” every year.”

Page 3 of the Coin Album
shows Nehru in consultation with some of the senior leaders of India, a postage
stamp of Rs.2/- issued on Children’s Day showing Nehru interacting with a
child, along with the Obverse image of the Rs.5/- coin

The Obverse of the coin shows the Emblem of the Government of
India – the Lion Capitol, together with the inscription “Satyameva Jayate
(meaning “Truth Always Prevails”). The country name is given on the left and
right peripheries – “Bharat” in Hindi) and “India” (in English). The
denomination of the coin “Rs.5” is given at the bottom of this face.

Pages 4 and 5 of the Coin Album

Page 4 of the Coin Album
contains the Reverse of the coin, an image of Nehru at a podium and more specifications of this coin:

Page 5 of the Coin Album shows
an image of the Reverse of the Rs.5/- coin, a Re.1/- stamp which bears the
legend “Mera Bharat Mahaan” (meaning “My India is Great”). There is also an
image of Mahatma Gandhi sharing a lighter moment with Jawaharlal Nehru.

The Back Cover of the Coin
Album gives a brief description about the Hyderabad Mint.

(In addition to the Hyderabad Mint coin, the Five Rupee coin commemorating the 125th Birth Anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru was collected by me at a Provision store. The other coins have been contributed for my collection by Krishna Tonpe, except for the One Rupee coin issued in 1964, which has been given for my collection by Shri Rajendrasinh Mohite. The First Day Cover is from the collection of Rahul Kumar. Coins scanned and article researched and written by Rajeev Prasad).

About Me

I am Rajeev Prasad, a retired State Bank of India officer who had been collecting coins in a shoe box without having a serious interest. Only after quitting my job I got the time to take serious interest in developing my coin collection into a hobby. A pity, because I would have had more opportunity to lay my hands on more 'exclusive coins' while in the Bank. Anyway, as they say,better late than never. If you have any views to share with me regarding this blog , please contact me on my email rajeevprasad1208@gmail.com. I also have a twitter account @prasad_rajeev.
I had an opportunity to participate in a Documentary on the life and times of the 25 paise coin titled “Chal Basi Chavanni” (The four anna/twenty five paise coin passes away), aired by STAR NEWS on 29th and 30th June 2011. The programme helped in making many persons hold back onto their “chavannis”, the little round beauties, instead of returning them to Banks .